Took me 8 months to realize I was leveling the boom wrong

Been running a Liebherr LTM 1050 for a local rental outfit and always had a tiny wobble in my picks that I blamed on the ground. Yesterday a senior operator watched me set up and pointed out I was leveling the boom before extending the outriggers all the way. Anyone else learn a basic habit way later than they should have?

2 comments

2 Comments

johnthompson23d agoMost Upvoted

Whoa, hold on now. I actually disagree with that - leveling the boom first gives you a solid reference point before you lock everything down, and messing with outriggers after can throw your whole setup off balance if you're not careful. That wobble might have been from something else like soft ground or not enough counterweight for the load you were running. Kinda sounds like that senior operator had his own way of doing things and just assumed his method was the only right one.

briancampbell23d ago

Blew my mind when I found out I'd been running my outrigger pads upside down for like two years. Nobody ever said anything, probably thought I knew what I was doing since I had the cert. Finally a mechanic just casually mentioned it while doing a service check and I felt like a complete idiot. Funny how the little things you pick up wrong early on just stick with you until someone finally says something.